Powering Up
by giddyfan
Summary: "Hello, my name is Cynthia Allen and I am a metahuman." This is the story of Cynthia Allen younger sister of Barry Allen, and her adventures as part of the metahuman crime fighting group "Team Flash". Watch as she fights criminals, protects her family, and falls in love. Main pairing Cisco/OC. Sub pairing Caitlin/Barry. Follows season 1. Please R&R.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: Welcome to my first Flash story, Powering Up.

Prologue

My name is Cynthia Allen and I am a metahuman.

To the outside world, I am an ordinary forensic profiler but secretly, with the help of my brother Barry, and my friends at Star Labs, we fight crime and stop other metahumans like me. This is my story, but let's start at the beginning.

However, before I start at the beginning of my metahuman crime fighting story, I want to start at the beginning of my human story. Even though my brother is two years older than me, Since our mother was murdered, and our father was wrongly accused of her death I have always tried to protect Barry, even though he is two years older than me. Even before that, I tried to protect him. I remember my mother saying to me, "Barry is your brother and that means he's your family. Family protects each other. Promise me you will always protect your family Cynthia."

"I promise mommy," I had said. Bullies at school would pick on Barry because he was smart and not good at sports, so I learned to defend myself and Barry quickly. Barry didn't always like that.

But another thing my mother always said to us is that, "It's better to have a good heart than fast legs." I have always tried to have a good heart, and I know Barry has as well. So, my metahuman story starts a short time before I got my powers.

Author's Note 2: I know it is super short but it is only a prologue and the next chapter will be up soon. Please tell me what you think. Thanks to my beta tj6james. I don't own The Flash.


	2. Beginnings

Chapter 1: Beginnings

Cynthia is sitting at her desk in the police station, trying to ignore her oncoming migraine. It seemed unfair that she should be miserable when it was such a warm, sunny day outside. Her office was small, it was more like a closet, but the fact that she had her dream job, and an office, was good enough for her. Suddenly, Cynthia's cell phone rings, breaking any chance of calming the pain.

"Cynthia Allen," she answers, holding her throbbing head.

"Cynthia, it's Joe. Have you seen your brother today? because hHe is supposed to be at my crime scene right now," the voice on the other end asks.

"Hey. Yyeah, he left to meet you there, but late as usual," Cynthia replies to her adoptive father.

"We have got to figure out a way to get that boy on time," Joe sighs. She can hear Joe's his frustration.

Cynthia moaned in pain, resting her forehead against the cool desktop, "Yeah good luck with that."

"Are you having another migraine? Take something for it okay," Joe suggests to her.

"Yeah, okay. Just let Barry use me as part of his excuse this time okay?" Cynthia gives in.

"Will do. I have to go, but I will probably see you later jayin the office," Joe remarks.

"Bye Joe," Cynthia finishes and hangs up the phone. She reaches into her desk and pulls out some prescription migraine pills. Taking one, she drinks half a bottle of water with it before going back to work. Later that day, after getting some work done, Cynthia goes upstairs to find her older brother. Walking into Barry's lab, Cynthia sees it' is in it's normal organized chaos.

"How you find anything in this place I will never figure out," Cynthia she says.

Barry looks up at her and smiles, making him seem younger, "Like you're any better?"

Coming up next to him, Cynthia starts, "Well it is one of the..."

"Allen family traits," they both say together. Barry is taller and leaner than Cynthia, but they have the same colored hair and eyes, but other thaen that they don't look like siblings. Of course, they doid share some similarities in traits: Llike the need to help people.

"Hey, thanks for covering for me today Cindy," Barry thanks Cynthiasays. Barry is the only one who canould call her Cindy:. It's was always been that way.

"No problem. What excuse did you use this time?" Cynthia inquires. She thinks she should know in case someone else brings it up.

"I was picking up your migraine prescription. That seemed to shut them up quickly since they remembered when you were out," Barry tells her. Cynthia smiles, remembering that incident. She had run out of pills and a particularly strong one had come on during a busy work day. Captain Singh had come to ask her for a report and she had yelled at him, putting him in his place about for how he ordered her around:. She was surprised she hadn't gotten fired for that one. Even more surprising: is that since Since then Singh has treated her with more respect thaen anyone else in the station.

"Okay I am ready to see this atom smasher smashing thingy," Iris announces as she walks into the room.

"Hey Iris," Cynthia greets her adoptive sister. Iris was, in terms of height, in between Cynthia and Barry. She was also black and the most fashionable one.

"Hey Cynthia," Iris greets backshe returns the greeting.

"There was a shooting today:. Your dad needs me to process some evidence, which means I don't know if we're going to make it to STAR Labs," Barry explains, getting back to work.

"Seeing this thing turned on is like your dream,. yYour sad, nerdy dream. Besides, I canceled a date for this," Iris responds, taking one of Barry's fries.

"Hands off my fries," Barry complains and takes the cup of fries away from Irisher. Fortunately for Cynthia that means the fries are closer to her. She smiles at Iris and takes a few of Barry's fries, stuffing them in her mouth. Barry turns to her, "Unbelievable,." he says as he shakes his head and He puts the cup of fries back down and walks over to another table in the lab.

"I'm stress-eating over my dissertation. We started selling cronuts at Jitters, I ate two today. If I don't graduate soon, I'm gonna be more muffin-top than woman," Iris complains.

Barry glances up at her and comments, "You look amazing."

"What's so important about this particle accelerator thing anyway?" Iris wonders as she picks up a science magazine where the cover story is about wondering whether the particle accelerator is safe.

Barry gets a smile on his face, "Harrison Wells' work in quantum theory is light-years ahead of anything they're doing at CERN."

"He's doing that thing where he isn't speaking English isn't he?" Iris asks Cynthia without looking away from Barry.

"Yeah," Cynthia agrees.

Barry walks over to a big, rolling, clear dry erase board and starts to explain, "Okay, just imagine that this dot is everything that the human race has learned up to this point."

"Does that include twerking?" Iris questions as Barry makes a dot on the board. Cynthia chuckles at Iris's comment as Barry continues.

"This is everything we could learn from the particle accelerator. It's a whole new way of looking at physics. It will literally change the way we think about everything," Barry finishes as he draws a large circle around the dot.

"We have got to get you a girlfriend," Cynthia comments jokingly. She knows that Barry is in love with Iris and has been for a very long time. Although she loves Iris dearly, Cynthia just didn't doesn't think they would work out in the end. In theory, they are perfect for each other, but if Iris didn't hasn't realized that Barry has a crush on her after all these years, then Cynthia just didn't doesn't feel like Iris iwas right for Barryhim. However, Cynthia would will let Barry work it out, and be there if her brother needsed her:. She has always tried to be there for him.

"Hey, leave him alone. He's working," Joe interrupts.

"Hey Dad," Iris says. Joe was a big man and the same color as his daughter. At that moment, a beeping sound comes from the computer making everyone in the room turn to it.

"Sounds like your test is done," Cynthia announces. Barry strolls over and starts clicking away.

Then he turns to Joe and reports, "I think that the Mardon brothers are hiding on a farm. The fecal material I found on the street was cow manures that contain trace of an antibiotic. Only four farms around Central City still use it in their feed." Barry hands a sheet of paper to Joe that contains the locations of all four farms. "I bet you'll find a sweet Shelby parked at one of them," Barry finishes. Iris goes over to her dad and pats him on the shoulder.

"Dad, seeing as Barry solved your poop problem, how about letting us go to STAR Labs," Iris proposes. Joe skeptically glances up from the paper at Barry.

"Fine go ahead," Joe reluctantly gives permission.

"Yes!" Barry and Iris celebrate.

"Do you want to come with us Cynthia?" Iris inquires.

Not wanting to be a third wheel, Cynthia politely tells them, "No thanks. You guys go ahead."

Barry grabs his coat, and as they run out of the lab he remarks, "Thanks Joe. Goodbye Cindy." Since Cynthia hasd finished her work for the day, so she decides to go back to her apartment. She is cleaning and about to go do some laundry when she gets a text from Iris about Barry being beaten up.

Immediately concerned for her brother Cynthia calls him.

"Hey Cynthia," Iris answers Barry's phone.

"What happened?" Cynthia requests sternly.

"We were at STAR Labs and someone took my laptop. Barry ran after the thief and he hit him with my laptop a couple times," Iris tells Cynthia calmly.

"Is he alright? Do I need to come over there?" Cynthia wonders, getting more frantic and worried.

"No," she hears Barry in the background.

"He's fine. Don't worry, you don't have to come," Iris relays.

Cynthia sighs in frustration but agrees, "Alright let me know if anything else happens."

"Will do. Talk to you soon," Iris concludes and hangs up. Suddenly, from the apartment above her loud music starts to play. Cynthia looks up at the ceiling and took takes a deep breath.

"Another party. Oh joy," she complains sarcastically. The apartment above her was constantly having parties. She cwould move, but she had gotten such a getting this sweet deal on the apartment at the price she does that it was is just too good to pass up or give up. Cynthia completes a load of laundry and starts the second load when it starts coming on. The music combined with the loud clanging of the old washing machine has brought on another migraine. It is raining outside so she can't open the window to have the cool night air help with the pain. Cynthia walks over to the window where she can see some of the city. Out of nowhere, the sound of an explosion comesing from the direction of STAR Labs, and a wave of something reverberates through the city. The wave hits Cynthia and she falls down, passing out. Cynthia is woken up to the very loud and extremely annoying ringing of her cell phone. She gets up off the floor and grabs her phone. "Yes, Hello," she groggily answers.

"Where the hell have you been? I' have been trying to contact you for hours?" Joe demands.

"Sorry Joe I got another migraine so I tried to sleep it off," Cynthia lies because she herself isn't sure what happened.

"Barry's been struck by lighteninglightning," Joe informs Cynthiaher. She is immediately more alert and starts running around her apartment.

"I'm on my way," Cynthia replies. Joe tells her which hospital and room number and then hangs up. Cynthia changes her clothes and gets to the hospital as fast as she canould.

When she got gets to Central City General, Cynthia almost runsan to the room number Joe had told her. When she getsot there, Joe and Iris are standing around by Barry's bed. Barry is unconscious and hooked up to many different machines. Cynthia walks over to the side of the bed opposite from Joe and Iris. Nobody said anything as they just watched Barry, hoping he would get better soon. The next three weeks were miserably spent by Barry's bedside. Cynthia had reluctantly visited her dad and told him what had happened, it was horrible to see her father so concerned yet not able to do anything. Lastly she made some other phone calls, and also made some phone calls, including one to Starling City.

She has encouraged Joe and Iris to go home, shower, sleep, and eat every once and in a while,. even though it makes She knew telling them that made her a hypocrite since she barely left leaves the hospital herself. When she felt feels up to it Cynthia would do works from her laptop. Since she is just a forensic profiler and Central City isn't as crime ridden, as say Gotham City, she can do most of her work from her laptopthere. Right now, Cynthia iwas trying not to fall asleep while reading a report when Iris and Joe coame into the room.

"Cynthia it's been three weeks. You barely eat. You barely sleep. You need to go home," Iris pleads.

"No, I'm alright," Cynthia she responds, sounding anything but alright. Suddenly, Barry starts seizing and his heart rate is plummets to zero. All three of them jump up:. Joe runs to the door and yells for a doctor.

"Oh my God!" Iris cries.

"They said he was stable," Cynthia statesalmost shouts, a tear falling from her eye.

The doctors and nurses come in and push them out of the room so that they can work. Iris runs away and down the hall. Cynthia starts to run after her but gives up, not having the energy. As she walks back to the room she hears Joe talking to someone. Getting When she gets closer she discovers it is Dr. Wells,. That was the man who built the particle accelerator that which had exploded:. He is trying to convince Joe to let him treat Barry.

Coming around the corner Cynthia interrupts as she turns the corner, "But that's not his decision." The men watch her as she goes to the door and looks through the window, and watches seeing the doctors work on Barry. Turning to Dr. Wells, Cynthia straightens up. "As his sister and only blood relative, I am the only one who is in a position to make decisions for Barry, so it's me you have to convince, " Cynthia she argues.

"Well then Ms. Allen, I am not going to promise you some miracle cure, but the technology at my lab will help Barry have a future," Dr. Wells proclaims. Cynthia really looks at Dr. Wells now. She hasd seen pictures of him before, and he looksed slightly different now. It' was not just the fact that he iwas in a wheelchair:, Sshe could can tell that the particle accelerator explosion had effected himaffected him in ways other thenthan his reputation. Cynthia stares into Dr. Wells' eyes and tries to read him. There is mostly determination in his eyes but also something else, something she can't quite define just yet. Cynthia breaks her gaze with the doctor and looks at Barry one more time.

"You can take him to STAR Labs, but I am coming as well," Cynthia she finally declares.

"Alright then," Dr. Wells agrees with a nod and a somewhat trepidatious smile.

Cynthia turns to Joe, "I' am going to go home so I can shower and eat. Will you stay with Barry until I get back?" Cynthia knows she needs to clean herself up.

"Of course, " Joe says. Cynthia is so tired; her movements are moves like a zombie-like as she ambles off down the hall to the elevator so she can goes back to her apartment.

After a warm shower and a change of clothes, Cynthia eats a couple of sandwiches and a bag of chipsFirst she takes a warm shower, afterwards changing into a comfortable outfit knowing she might be in it for a while. Next she goes into the kitchen and makes herself a sandwich. After eating two sandwiches and a bag of chips:, Cynthia She is just cleaning her mess from her impromptu meal when she gets a text from Joe saying Barry had been moved to STAR Labs. Cynthia She makes her way there, getting more tired by the minute. After finding her way around the massive structure, Cynthia finally finds the room where they are keeping Barry.

As she looks Looking around the room, Cynthia thought that this thinks it was probably the main control area back before the explosion. There iwas a large table filled with multiple computers and screens in the middle of the room. Off to the sides there are two different lab areas:. Barry is in the area at To the back of the room is where Barry is. He is stable and looks better without the breathing and /feeding tubes in his mouth. Everything looks very expensive and high tech.

There iares two people that Cynthia doesn't know standing around Barry.

"Ah there you are Ms. Allen. Welcome to STAR Labs," Dr. Wells welcomes her as he wheels into the room. "Joe got an important call from the police station so he had to leave but assured me that you were on your way," Dr. Wells tells Cynthiahe informs her. The two people had turned to look at them when Dr. Wells had entered the room. Wells He goes over to them and turns to face Cynthia,. "Let me introduce you to my team. Dr. Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, " Wells introduces the others. The man, Cisco, smiles at her and the women, Caitlin, nods at her. Cynthia's manners kick in and she goes and shakes both of their hands with both of them,. "Caitlin, Cisco, this is Mr. Allen's sister," Wells finishes.

"Cynthia,. pPlease. Wwe don't need to be formal," Cynthia insists.

"Well, Barry is stable," Caitlin informs Cynthiathem.

"That's what they said at the hospital," Cynthia commentssays acerbically.

"Yeah, they did, but trust us. Oour technology is far superior to better then theirs," Cisco reassures her. Cynthia nods with a sigh and finds a chair which. sShe puts it next to the bed and sits down:. Waking up after sleeping awkwardly in the a chair is something Cynthia has gotten used to lately. However, when she wakes up at STAR Labs it takes her a minute to remember everything, and her muscles complain about the position she slept in. As she stretches, she notices that a blanket was put around her. Staring She could go cross-eyed staring at the monitors all the time, but seeing them with fresh eyes, she sees they are unchanged from when she went to sleep. Cynthia is just going to get out her laptop to do some work when a cup of coffee appears in front of her. She looks up and sees Cisco handing holding it out toto her.

"Thank you, Cisco," Cynthia thanks says gratefully as she takes it.

"You are a very devoted sister," Cisco he comments.

"He's my only family. I mean Joe and Iris are our adoptive family, but our mother is dead and our father...isn't around," Cynthia explains. She doesn't know why she is telling him any of this, but he does seem to be a least mildly interested. Cisco just nods.

Cynthia takes a couple of gulps of coffee before asking, "Did you give me this blanket?"

"Yeah that was me," Cisco he answers with a smile.

Cynthia smiles a little in return and says, "Thank you again."

"Your smile brightens the room. You should smile more," Cisco compliments. Usually Cynthia would just think that was a cheesy pick up line, but when she looks up at Cisco she can see how genuine he is and that he is a bit nervous talking to her. A warmth fills her and she genuinely smiles for the first time in over 3more than three weeks.

"You're sweet Cisco," Cynthia responds. They start talking and getting to know each other and Cynthia shea starts to feell a little less sad.

Author's Note: So much happens in this first episode that I felt I needed to split it up into two chapters. What do you think? Please leave a comment. This story is not beta'd. If you would like to beta it, please contact me. I don't own The Flash.


	3. Discovering Heroics

Author's Note 1: If you know who I based my OC off ofon (from the comics and because of her first name) then you are awesome. Also, I would like to say that I thought about this story, and her, before they announced that she was going to be on the show. She is loosely based on that character and I have changed a lot. Lastly, PLEASE READ AUTHOR NOTE 2 AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 2: Discovering Heroics

9 months after lightning struck

Cynthia is walking around STAR Labs and is just about to enter the cortex when she hears something, so. Cynthia she stops and listens. What she hears is the song Poker Face by Lady Gaga playing:. Cynthia She smiles at this, knowing that it is Cisco is the one who put it on, and that he did it most likely did it for her and Barry and her. Suddenly, the song turns off and Cynthia hears a lot of commotion. Cynthia She gets even more curious when she thinks she hears Barry's voice. She hurries around the corner and sees Barry get up off the bed and hears him ask what happened.

"Bartholomew Allen!" Cynthia announces her presencesays loudly and sternly. Everyone in the room turns to her. She strides over till she is right in front of Barryhim. "Don't you ever do that to me again. Do you know how worried I was, not to mention Joe and Iris?" Cynthia starts states, her anger and frustration clear in her voice. Barry stands there gaping for a few seconds before Cynthia throws her arms around him in a hug. When Barry he hugs her back, Cynthia feels a weight lift off from her shoulders. The relief courses through her whole body, making her feel lighter than she has in months sheepishly.

"I'm sorry Cindy," Barry apologizes sheepishly: It almost sounds like a question. Cynthia steps back, ending their hug. "So, what happened?" Barry asks again.

"You were struck by lightning dude," Cisco answers.

Barry turns to a full- length mirror and examines his reflection before asking and questions, "Lightning gave me abs?" Caitlin comes up in front of Barry and starts gently pressing ontouching his chest and shoulders.

Cynthia notices Barry tense up at this as Caitlin says, "Your muscles should be atrophied Barry, but instead they're in a chronic and unexplained state of cellular regeneration." Cynthia moves over and stands next to Cisco.

"Come here, have a seat," Cisco directs Barry to sit on a stool. "You were in a coma," Cisco reveals as Barry moves to the stool indicated and sits.

Barry's face shows his shock as he wonders, "For how long?"

"Nine months," a voice replies. They all turn to see Dr. Wells entering the room. Barry stands up and moves to join him. "Welcome back Mr. Allen," Wells welcomes him. Barry and Wells go on a walkfor a stroll (for Barry at least) through STAR Labs so that Wells can explain what happened in more detail. They make it back to the cortex as Wells explains tells his patient that Cynthia gave herim permission to bring move him to STAR Labs, and that she, plus Joe and Iris were had been a constant presence.

"Iris?" Barry inquires.

"Iris, yes. She came to see you quite often," Wells the doctor comments.

"She talks a lot." Caitlin remarks in a sort of annoyed and amused way when Cynthia, Cisco and Caitlin come up and join the conversation.

"Also And she's hot," Cisco adds smiling and seems a little star struck.

"She's like my sister! so Please, try not to make those kinds of comments when I'm here," Cynthia states.

"I need to go," Barry declares from out of the blue and starts to leave.

"No, you can't," Caitlin disagrees, which makesing Barry stop and turn around.

"Caitlin's right. Now that you'rer awake, we need to do more tests. You're still going through changes, there's so much that we don't know," Wells tells Barry.

"I'm fine, really. I feel normal. Thank you for saving my life," Barry reasons and leaves the room.

"Really?" Caitlin exclaims.

"Barry this is not smart," Cynthia yells frusteratedfrustrated with him.

Barry's head pops out from around the corner, "Can I keep the sweatshirt?" Barry indicates his STAR Labs sweatshirt that he' was wearing.

"Yes,ah you can keep the sweatshirt," Wells allows. Barry nods in thanks to Wells again and leaves. Caitlin and Wells go to another part of the room and start working on their own projects.

"I should probably go too. I need to go home and do some stuff around my apartment," Cynthia tells Cisco. Cisco nods his head and then grabs Cynthia's her hand.

"When are you going to tell your brother about us?" Cisco asks.

Cynthia smiles, "He just woke up Cisco. I think he needs a little time to adjust before he finds out his little sister has a boyfriend." She steps closer to him and wraps her arms around his neck.

"I just don't want to hide us, that's all," Cisco he explains.

"I don't either, but let's just wait a little while longer," Cynthia proposes. She goes to kiss him on the cheek, but Cisco he intercepts it and their lips connect. Cynthia will never get over the tingling feeling she gets inside her every single time they kiss. It' is like nothing she' has ever experienced before. If this wasn't isn't love, she didn't doesn't think there iwas such a thing. However, she iwasn't ready to say those words yet. Since they're Being at STAR Labs they keep the good-byeit brief.

Cynthia pulls away and whispers, "I'll see you later." Cisco again nods and walks away to work on a project. Cynthia leaves STAR Labs and gets into her small, used car. Driving to the station doesn't take very long since it's just because it is before rush hour. She takes the elevator and, after saying hello to a few people, goes to her office. Cynthia She grabs a couple of reports from her printer and makes a couple of notes on her notepad. When she leaves Leaving her office a short time later, she sees Barry leave going through the door into the hallway in a rush. Cynthia finds this strange so she quickly drops off her reports and heads in the direction Barry went. When she gets Coming outside she iCynthia's in an alley aton the side of the police station. She looks around and spots Barry Cynthia looks over just in time to see Barry him run away faster thaen should be humanly possible:. She calls out Barry's his name and starts after him. Eventually, Cynthia she catches up and sees that Barry has run up into the inside of a laundry truck.

As she's hHelping Barry out of the truck Cynthia wonders, "How did you do that?"

Barry shrugsged his shoulders and breathlessily says, "I don't know."

"Come on, let's were going back to STAR Labs and figure this out," Cynthia suggests says, confident that Cisco and the others will be able to at least make some sense of thiswhat happened. The siblings go to Cynthia's car and drive straight to STAR Labs. After telling everyone there what had happened, they all the lab techs and those who were Barry's primary care givers during his comay got set up for decide that an experiment is in order:. They all go to Ferris Air, a place where they test airplanes, because it has long runways that have periodic measurements. Cynthia helpsed set up the tent and all the equipment while Barry went goes inside the trailer they brought and change into an outfit Cisco thought to bring alongbrought.

"You don't really believe he can run that fast do you?" Caitlin asks skeptically.

"I believe anything is possible, and in a little bit so will you," Wells tells Caitlinher.

Cisco walks over to the trailer and shouts, "How's it fit?" Barry comes out of the trailer in a red outfit that is clearly too small for him.

"It's a little snug," Barry comments sarcastically.

"Well at least you'll be moving so fast no one will see you," Cisco offers. Cynthia laughs and takes out her phone:. She takes a picture of Barry before he can protest.

"Why are you here again?" Barry questions, teasing Cynthia.

"Moral support," Cynthia replies backreturns in the same teasing tone. Cisco walks with Barry a little fuarther from the trailer, and closer to the runway, out and starts telling Barry about what they are going to do.

After Cisco comes back to where everything is set up on a table, Caitlin goes over to make sure her equipment, that which is attached to Barry, is all set up. Cynthia watches them and notices that again Barry straightens up a little while talking to Caitlin. Caitlin finishes with Barry and comes over behind the table and with the others stands next to Cynthia. Barry gets into a ready position in the starting blocks that they brought like the runners do during the Olympics while everyone else does last minute things and double checks the equipment. Wells is next to the table as he puts on his sunglasses and cautions Barry to restrain himself for the first test so they will have a base line to refer to, and Cisco is closer to Barry with a speed gun. Barry nods and is Well cautions Barry to restrain himself during this first test and Barry nods. sSuddenly gone, , Barry takes off . leaving a breeze behind that is so strongat his inhuman speeds. The force is so great that Cisco and the rest falls down and the rest of them, plus and all their stuff equipment flieys back.

Caitlin's face shows her shock, and when Cisco announces how far Barry has run in just a few seconds Caitlin she mumbles, "It's not possible,." as she shakes her head. Cynthia knows that anything is possible, and that Barry's speed isn't the only impossible thing that' has happened recently.

 _A few months ago, Cynthia wais waiting in a long line at Jitters. Finally, there is only one person in front of her._

 _"I'll have a medium decaf coffee and..._ _," tThe man in front of her started. By thihats time Cynthia had lost her patience. Discreetly, with her hands at her sides, Cynthia starteds to clench her hands in frustration._

 _The man in front of her_ _leans aput his hand against to his forehead and painfully saidys, "You know what, that's it." The man paysHe paid for his drink and leavesleft. The whole thing seemeds weird to Cynthia but. sShe brusheds it off and gets got her coffee. Unfortunately, she neededs to go into the office, today so she went straight to the police station from after leaving Jitters, Cynthia goes to the police station. She had been in her office, slowly making headway with the paperwork gets to her office and starts working. Cynthia is stilling working when Detective Campbell comes came in._

 _"Have you finished my report yet?"_ _Campbell asksHe asked in a very angry and rude tone._

 _"I am working on it right now_ _Detective Campbell, so no, I haven't," Cynthia replied as nicely as she coulds in as nice of a tone as she can._

 _"Well hurry up, I don't have all day,"_ _Campbell he remarkeds snidely, . He turneds around and starteds to walk out of her office. Cynthia wais so fed up with his attitude that she raiseds her arm and imitateeds thea Darth Vader chokeing motion. Campbell abruptly stopppeds and almost falls fell as he grabbeds his head. Cynthia She dropped retracts her arm and lookeds at her hand with confusion._

 _"You know what_ _, you take your time with that report,t. I think I might be getting sick," Campbell stated,s clearly in pain. He doesn't turn around Campbell just slowly walkeds out of her office without looking back. Cynthia lookeds at her hand again. Did she do that?_

All this flashes through Cynthia's head in a few seconds, the. nNext thing she knows Barry has crashed into some barrels and is holding his clearly broken wrist. Instead of going to the hospital, they all rush back to STAR Labs so that Caitlin couldan treat him. The few hour's wait feels more like an aeon, but Cynthia makes good use of her time by checking in at work and sending off a couple of emailsWhat felt like forever of waiting and being useless was only a few hours. In that time, other then worrying, Cynthia called the police station to see if she was needed and typed up a couple of emails from her phone. When Caitlin iswas finally done, they all gather around Barry as he's shown . She shows Barry an x-ray of his hurt broken wrist.

"It looks like you had a distal radius fracture," she explains.

"Had?" Barry picks up onquestions her choice of words choice. Caitlin swipes on the iPpad and shows him an differentnew x-ray:. This one has a healed wrist on it.

"It's healed. In three hours," Caitlin tells him as she shakes her head incredulously.

"How is that possible?" Barry questions.

"We don't know," Caitlin answers him.

"Yet," Cynthia adds, confident that Caitlin and the rest of them couldcan figure it out.

Cisco picks up Barry's damaged helmet and grins as he tells Barry says, "You got to learn how to stop." Wells wheels over to Barry who is still sitting on the hospital bed.

"What happened out there today? You were moving pretty well, and then something caused you to lose focus," Wells wonders.

"I started remembering something," Barry starts and then takes a deep breath. "When I was eleven my...our mother was murdered," Barry confesses, gesturing to Cynthia when he changes the word. Cynthia looks down at her feet, nervous about looking at anyone in the room.

She remembers it like it was yesterday, she will always remember it. _Cynthia She woke up because she had heard a strange noise coming from downstairs. She was scared and curious about what was causing the noise. So CynthiaShe got out of bed and went over to Barry's room. Cynthia where she shook him awake and they watched as the water in Barry's fishbowl started floating. They went down the stairs together. What they saw when they got downstairs was impossible:. It looked like lightning was inside the house, and it was circling their mother. They bBoth of them shouted for their mom and she told them to run. Inside the lightning there was a man._

"All tThe cops thought I was just in shock or covering for my dad," Barry continued finished his story as Cynthia was brought back from her memory.

"And I was so in shock that I didn't say anything. I'm so sorry for that," Cynthia expresses, feeling guilty.

"Hey, I know you' are sorry, but even if you had said something it probably wouldn't have made any difference. Dad still would have gone to prison," Barry comforts Cynthia.

Barry He turns back to Wells, "What if the person who killed our mother was like me?"

"I can tell you for certain Barry that you are one of a kind," Wells assures him.

Barry nods skeptically and gets up off the bed,.

"I have to go," he indicates says, his voice full of melancholy, and leaves. Cynthia takes a deep breath and glances at Cisco. He is glancing looking at her with a concerned expression look on his face. Cynthia discreetly shakes her head to tell him that she doesn't want to talkke about it right now. She hadn't told him about what happened that night beforeyet.

"I have to go too. I have a lot of work to catch up on," Cynthia announces. She says her goodbyes and leave STAR Labs. Cynthia She goes to work and puts in some more time:. She is still working when Joe comes into her office some time later.

"Barry and Iris were have been involved in some sort of accident," Joe informs her in a rush. Cynthia turns off her computer and jumpsget up, eyes wide with concern and goesing with Joe. They arrive at the scene soon after and immediately go over to Iris and Barry. Joe hugs Iris as Cynthia hugs Barry.

"Are you guys alright?" Joe inquires.

"We're fine dad," Iris replies.

"What were you thinking?" Joe starts to yell.

"Joe, I need to talk to you," Barry interrupts, sounding urgent.

"Not now," Joe arguesdismisses him.

"Yes now," Barry insists. They walk a couple of paces away and start talking.

Cynthia moves over and stands next to Iris.

"Are you sure youryou're alright Iris?" Cynthia asks, concerned.

"Yeah," she says with a deep sigh, "Barry was able to move us out of the way in time.," Iris confirms. Cynthia nods as she eavesdrops on Barry and Joe's conversation. She is surprised to hear Barry tell Joe that Clyde Mardon is alive and has the power to control the weather. When things get heated between them, Iris and Cynthia intervene and separate them.

"We need to go back to STAR Labs," Barry mutters to her. Cynthia looks at him, surprised, but nods and drives them there. and Barry storms into the control room. "I wasn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator explosion was I?" Barry accusesdemands. Caitlin, Cisco, and Dr. Wells all look at each other.

"We don't know for sure," Caitlin respondshedges.

"You said there was no residual danger. That the city was safe. But that's not true, so what really happened that night?" Cynthia questions curiously. Wells takes the lead and starts explaining what happened when the particle accelerator exploded and all the possible eaffects it could have.

"Those are all theoretical," Barry points out about the possible different affects, interrupting Wells.

"And how theoretical are you?" Wells proposesretorts.

"We've been trying to figure out who was affected and find these metahumans," Cisco states.

"Metahumans?" Cynthia repeats.

"That's what we're calling them," Caitlin confirms.

"I met one today. He's a bank robber and he can control the weather," Barry informs everyone.

"This just keeps getting cooler," Cisco remarks with a grin.

"No this isn't cool, a man died!" Barry starts shoutingstates firmly, almost yelling.

"Mardon must have gotten his powers the same way I did, and he's still out there. We have to stop him," Barry states demands and starts to leave to take care of it.

"Barry,. tThat is a job for the police," Wells reasons.

"I work for the police," Barry professesstresses.

"As a forensic scientist. Let the policem take care of it," Wells concludesdemands.

"You did this, you need to do something to help clean this up," Barry exclaims.

"Barry, what matters is you. Inside, you could be the key to many scientific breakthroughs. Don't go and mess that up by trying to play hero," Wells yells. Barry shakes his head and storms out of the room. Cynthia watches him and then turns back to the others.

"Our father was a doctor,doctor; our adoaptive father is a cop and we both work for the police. I think wanting to help people is in our blood," Cynthia claims and leaves to go find Barry. She finds him sitting on the ground outside. "Are you alright?" Cynthia She asks as she approaches Barryher brother, but. hHe doesn't say anything, instead he sits there looking like he's in deep thought. "You know that you can't just demand that someone help you with something that dangerous," Cynthia disclosestells him emphatically.

"Yeah, I know," Barry finally speaks. Cynthia sits down next to Barryhim and puts her arm over his shoulders, pulling him to her slightly. "What do you think I should do?" Barry questionsasks gloomily.

"I'm not sure. It's not an easy situation," Cynthia proclaimsanswers.

"I need to be alone for a while," Barry says before h. He gets up and speeds away. Cynthia takes a deep breath and continues to sit there for a few minutes, looking back over the last few hours and how much things, especially Barry have changed. Finally, and she decides to go home and get some sleep. The next morning Cynthia is in her office at work and Barry walks in. "I have an idea. Will you help me?" Barry proposes.

Cynthia smiles at him, "You know I will." Barry tells her his plan and then they set it into motion:. They gather what they need and return to STAR Labs . Barry and Cynthia where they put the boxes on the table in front of them: and Cisco and Caitlin come around the table.

"I've done some research and there has been a sharp increase in unsolved cases and missing persons in the past nine months. Your metahumans have been busy," Barry tells them. Cisco and Caitlin glance at each other.

"Now I'm not blaming you,. I know you didn't want this to happen, I know you all lost something," Barry continues. He glances at Caitlin and Cynthia knows that Caitlin she must have told Barry about how the particle accelerator explosion killed her fiancée. "But I need to catch Mardon and anyone else out there like him,. bBut I can't do it alone," Barry finishes.

"Well, you know I'm in," Cynthia smiles.

Cisco breaks into a smile as well and says, "If we're going to do this, I have something that might help." Cisco leads us them to another room and turns a suited mannequin around to face all of them. The red suit covers the entire body, except for the facee which hasd a small air mask attached to it. "Something I've been playing with. It's supposed to replace the outfits firefighters typically wear. I thought if STAR Labs did something nice for the community, people wouldn't be so mad at Dr. Wells because of the explosion," Cisco explains.

"How is it going to help Barry though?" Cynthia asks, moving closer to the suit.

"It's made of a polymer so it's heat and abrasabrasion resistant,ive and the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control while traveling at high velocities. Plus, it has built-in sensors, so we can track your vitals, and there is a two waytwo-way headset so that we all can stay in contact with each otheryou from here," Cisco informs them.

"Cool," Cynthia comments, impressed.

"Good. Nnow, how do we track Mardon?" Barry wonders.

Caitlin steps forward with an iIPad in her hand, "I've just re- tasked STAR Labs satellites to track meteorologicalmetrological abnormalities in Central City." She looks down at her iPad when they hear a pinging noise coming from it, "We just got a ping," she says excitedly.. She does some fast tapping on the screen before announcing, "I tracked it to a farm just west of the city." Barry looks at Cynthia, remembering the information he'd given Joe the day his life changed, then at the suit. Before he puts the suitit on Cynthia takes off the air mask, thinking that Barry will probably not need it, and the suit looks better without it. Barry usesd his metahuman speed to get into the suit and darts out of the building.

Before he gets While on his way to the farm Mardon starts to make a tornadostrong, gusting winds which are strong enough to remove roof tiles and quickly turn into tornado force winds.

"Joe's here," Barry announces as he get's to the farm. The tornado causes the farm to start to break apart and the metal roof to break off. Barry grabs the metal roof and makes sure it lands safely on the ground.

"Barry, Barry, can you hear me?!" Cisco yells into the microphone.

"Yeah, loud and clear," Barry confirms.

"You have to stop Mardon and the storm. It's turning into an F5 tornado," Caitlin warns Barryhim. Cynthia didn't doesn't know much about weather, but she knowsew that' was bad.

"It's also headed for the city," Cynthia states, watching the progress of the storm on one of the screens in front of her.

"Guys, how do I stop it?" Barry asks. The three of them look at each other as if the other person might have the answer.

"What if I unravel it?" Barry proposes.

"How are you going to do that?" Cynthia wonders.

"I'll run around it in the opposite direction," Barry explains.

"YouHe'd have to clock 700 mph," Cisco calculates.

"Your body might not be able to handle those speeds Barry," Caitlin cautions.

"I have to try," Barry says determinedly and. Barry goes and starts to run in the opposite direction that of the tornado is moving.

"The suit's holding up," Cisco says gleefully.

"But he's not," Caitlin panics.

"He can do it. I know he can," Cynthia states, confident in her assessment. In the next second, Barry get's knocked off his feet by Mardon.

"He's too strong," Barry cries. Cisco, Caitlin, and Cynthia look at each other in confusion, not knowing what to say.

"You can do this Barry," someone says. The three of them look over and see Dr. Wells at the third microphone, Cynthia and Cisco sharing a microphone. "You'rer right, I am responsible for this. I hurt so many, and when I saw you, all I saw was another potential victim, but Barry you can do this Barry., Yyou can stop this. Now run Barry, run," Wells tells himyells as he tells Barry to run. Barry, who is inspired by what Wells said, starts again to run in the opposite direction of the tornadoclockwise. On the screen, they all watch as Barry, amazingly, slowly unravels the tornado. The tornado is gone, but Mardon is still a threat.

Barry turns at the sound of Mardon's surprised voice, "I didn't think there was anyone else like me."

"I'm not like you. You're I'm not a murderer," Barry replies. They hear watch and listen as Mardon gets ready to shoot Barry when, from a different direction, another gun goes off. Cynthia knows it must be Joe killing Mardon. It is silent after that.

"Barry?" Cynthia calls, and doesn't get a response. No answer.

"Barry!?" Caitlin tries.

"It's over," Barry responds. Cynthia breathes a sigh of relief and smiles as she looksing up at Cisco, who has a similar expression on his face. Cynthia glances over at Caitlin and sees her smiling for probably the first time since the particle execrator accelerator explosion. It isn't long until Barry walks back into the cortex where Cynthia and Cisco are ready and waiting.

"Hey Barry, there' is something I need to tell you," Cynthia starts.

Barry suspiciously stares at her, "Ok what is it?" Cynthia's sweating a little, even though she knows Barry won't make a big deal out of her newsthis.

"Cisco and I awere dating," Cynthia states nervously, gesturing to Cisco when she says his name. Barry looks from Cynthia to Cisco a couple of times and smiles widely.

"That's great," Barry responds excitedly.

Cynthia smiles and gives Barry a hug.

"Thanks," she thanks says to him.

"As long as you'rer happy," Barry he whispers as and they pull apart. Barry gives Cisco one of those quick one armed man hugs and then tells them that he' is going to take off: and He just came here in just to check in with everybody. Cisco grabs Cynthia's hand and pulls her into his arms.

Cynthia puts her arms around Cisco's neck.

"I told you we had nothing to worry about," Cisco he tells her.

Cynthia laughs a little, "Right, you told did tell me." They kiss briefly and decide to go out togetherfor dinner. Cynthia decides to keep her powers to herself, just for now.

Author's Note 2: If you like this chapter/story please comment, follow, like, etc. Also, I have a question. Do you want me to do every episode fully or just give you parts each episode or skip some episodes? I have notes for each episode but it is up to you. Thanks to my beta tj6james6. I don't own anything.


	4. First Date

Song I listened to: Crazy/U Drive Me Crazy (Glee version)

Chapter 3: First Date

Cynthia is a little nervous. She hasn't gone on a date in a long while. It's had been a few months since she had met Cisco when Barry was transferred to STAR Labs. Even though she hasn't had manyThough she hasn't really had some happy moments during all of this, Cisco has been at the center of most of them.

After getting ready, Cynthia went goes over what's was going supposed to happen tonightduring their date. Cisco iwas going to pick her up, and then they were going walk to the movie theater. After the movie, they' were going to have something to eat. It was Cynthia's suggestion to have dinner after the movie:. She suggested this it just in case they didn't connect like Cynthia she hoped and thought they might. At dinnerdinner, they could talk about the movie if that it happened. Then Cisco would walk her home. Just as she finishes going over everything in her mind there is a knock on the door. Cynthia takes a deep breath and goes over to the She opens the door and sees Cisco standing there in a button downbutton-down shirt and some nicer pants on. He looks really nervous as he stands there fidgeting a little.

"Hey Cisco," Cynthia she says, sounding a little nervous herself. Cisco smiles at Cynthia and brings his arm from around his back to reveal a single red rose.

"I got this for you," he tells Cynthiaher shyly.

"Thanks," CynthiaShe thanks him as she takes the rose and blushes a pretty shade of pinkblushing. Cynthia takes a sniff of the rose and inhales it's sweet aroma.

"You look amazing," Cisco comments. Cynthia She's is wearing a nice white tank top, dark blue, almost black jeans, with a brown leather jacket and black leather boots. She hadidn't wanted to wear a dress in case the theater was cold, and she hadidn't wanted to look like she was going to work either, so what she had on was the compromise.

"Thanks again," Cynthia thanks againshe says with a small smile.

"Are you ready?" Cisco He asks.

"Yeah," Cynthia responds excitedly as. sShe grabs her purse and locks her apartment door. Their walk to the movie theater is not silent:. It is full of conversation. "Personally mMy favorite Doctor of the new series is the 10th Doctorone," Cynthia states.

"Typical," Cisco says in a sarcastic, joking manner.

"Now wait! Jjust let me tell you my reasoning," Cynthia replies. "I don't like him just because he's cute, even though he is. I like him because I feel that he shows a good balance between the comedic and serious parts of the Doctor,. aAndlso because of the fact that David Tennent iwas a lifelong fan of Doctor Who and got into acting so that he could play the Doctor. It's the closest thing we will ever get to 'one of us' becoming the Doctor," Cynthia explains.

Cisco listens and comments back, "I guess I can see your point." They get to the theater and get in line for the tickets. Cisco insists that he should pay for the tickets.

"Fine then I pay for the snacks and half of dinner," Cynthia suggests since the tickets will be more expensive thenthan the snacks.

"Deal," Cisco agrees. They take their seats at the end of one of the in a middle rows but at the end of one. Cynthia sets the popcorn on the arm rest in between the both of them so they can both have some whenever they like. The previews start and after each one Cynthia whispers to Cisco whether or not she thinks it looks good, and whether or not she might want to see it. When the movie starts they are silent through the whole thing. Cynthia found finds that the movie that Cisco choose is not the traditional date movie:. It' is an action movie. and Cynthia She had expected Cisco him to choose some romantic movie for her. She actually really appreciates it the fact that he didn't pick somea sappy romcom movie just for her. Not only to try andHe wasn't trying to impress her with an 'I am actually an emotional guy's trickstunt, and but because she actually had wanted to see the movie he picked out. She may be a closet romantic, but she is and out and proud tomboy of sorts.

After the movie is over, they get up and throw away their trash as they fall in with the crowd and head outside..

"What restaurant do you want to go to?" Cisco inquires. Standing outside the theater Cynthia looks around and sees. There is a familiar American place across the street.

"Let's go there just to be safe. Plus, I am starving," Cynthia says, pointing to the restaurant.

"Okay, I love that place," Cisco remarks. They quickly walk over to the restaurant and get a seat. Looking over the menu Cynthia thinks about what she wants versus what most guys expect the girl to get on their first date. She has never been one for holding back so she decides to get what she really wants.

"Hello, welcome, what would you like to order today?" The waitress asks.

"I will have the cheeseburger done medium well with the a side of fries please," Cynthia orders. Cisco is smiling at her when she looks up at him.

"I will have the same thanks," Cisco tells the waitress. During the whole meal Cisco and Cynthia they talk and have fun joking around with each other. Cynthia doesn't think she' has laughed so much in such a short period of time in her life. They leave the restaurant and start to walk back to Cynthia's apartment.

"Come on! The Last Crusade is the best Indiana Jones movie," Cynthia insists.

"No way, Raiders is the first and the best," Cisco disagrees.

Cynthia smiles and laughs, "Agree to disagree?"

Cisco smiles as well, "Yeah." Cynthia can't believe Cisco is as much of a geek as she is. , sShe has never met someone she connects with like Ciscohim. Cynthia She thinks for a second and grabs his hand, and holds holding it in hers. Cisco looks down at their joined hands and then just continues on walking, smiling still. They get back to Cynthia's apartment building and Cisco insists that he walk Cynthia her to her apartment door.

"Well Cisco I had a great time tonight," Cynthia she tells Ciscohim.

"Yeah, I had a good time too," Cisco agrees. Cynthia hesitates and then leans in and kisses Cisco him on the cheek.

"Goodnight Cisco," Cynthia she says as she opens her door.

"Goodnight Cynthia," Cisco he responds. Cynthia turns, unlocks her apartment door and goes inside. Once she is on the other side and the door is closed, Cynthia takes a deep breath. She definitlydefinitely feels like she wants to go out with Cisco again. However, Cynthia doesn't want to think about that now because she is very tired. As soon as she lays her head on her pillow Cynthia she falls asleep.

The next morning is just like any other morning for Cynthia since her brother went into his coma. She does her morning routine and then gets into her car to drives to the police station. Going into her office, sShe does a few work things that have tomust be done at the station, like dropping off paperwork. After that is all done she hops back into her car and heads to STAR Labs. When Cynthia she gets there, she greets Caitlin and Dr. Wells, but. She doesn't see Cisco so she imagines he is somewhere in the building tinkering with something. Cynthia She sits in her usual spot next to Barry's bed and opens her laptop. She' has been typing for quietquite a while when she hearsd Cisco come into the room. Cynthia She looks up at him and they stare at each other for a little whilefew moments.

"Would it seem like I am desperate if I asked you out for our second date already?" Cynthia inquires a little nervously.

"No, because I will say yes," Cisco he answers.

Author's Note: So, what did you think of this chapter? Please let me know by leaving me a comment. Thanks to my beta tj6james. I don't own The Flash, Doctor Who, or Indiana Jones.


	5. Author's Note

Author's Note

I am putting this up here for a number of reasons. First is that I recently got a review on this story that was very troubling. It was from a guest reviewer so I can't block them or delete the review. I encourage everyone who reads my stories to review as it fuels me to continue. That being said it is clear from this review that the person didn't actually read my story they just hated on the fact that it wasn't an Iris/Barry and Caitlin/Julian story. I don't understand why you would click on a story that is clearly what you like just to hate on it. The information about the story clearly shows a Barry/Caitlin pairing. I understand if you don't like that pairing and I am not forcing you to like it by writing this story. This is they only reason why I would like to delete the review since it is clearly just hating on it for existing and not because of any of the actual writing, story, etc. I have never deleted a review before and only have blocked someone who threatened to shut my profile down for using song lyrics in a chapter.

The second reason I am posting this is because I might owe some of you an explanation. If you follow my blog you already know this but I realize some of you don't so I am explaining here. I am alternating writing this story and another story which is why there will be long stretches in between chapters. I have a lot of people who follow my blog eagerly waiting for this other story so if you will please be patient with me it is much appreciated. I hope this is a good enough explanation for everyone and please message me if you have questions, comments, or concerns. Thank you for your support.


	6. Secretly Helping

Song I listened to for this chapter: We're Dancing By: PYT from Center Stage album

Chapter 4: Secretly Helping

Cynthia wakes up just like she does every other morning. It feels like nothing has changed even though, since the particle accelerator explosion, almost everything has changed. Yes, she still has the same job, still lives in the same place, and still goes to the same places, but now things like Joe calling her and asking her if she has seen her brother make her mind wander to different possibilities. So, when Joe did just that because Barry was late for a crime scene again it took her a few minutes to realize where else, except at his apartment, Barry could be. Cynthia picks up her phone and calls Cisco.

"Hey, Babe, what's going on?" Cisco answers, obviously seeing her name before he answered.

"Hey Cisco, is Barry with you?" She asks as she slightly blushes at the nickname.

"No, he just left because Joe called him to a crime scene," Cisco says. Cynthia can tell he is multitasking by the tone of his voice. She rolls her eyes, not really taking offense since they are both the type of people who, when they are working on something interesting, don't want to stop until it is done.

"Okay, well that's good, because Joe called me. I know you are absorbed in your work so I'll see you later," Cynthia comments.

"Bye, see you soon," Cisco says and they both hang up. After almost finishing the little bit of work she had, Cynthia decides to take a break and goes into the main lobby. Just at that moment Joe and Barry walk out of the elevator. Going over to them she hears them whispering about Barry's new powers. Both men acknowledge her but continue talking to each other.

"Believe me, I'm dealing with it too. I've always had a very simple set of beliefs. Gravity makes things fall. Water makes things wet. And up until a few weeks ago, I believed the fastest man could run a mile was four minutes, not four seconds," Joe tells Barry.

Barry smiles and remarks, "I could do it in three."

"That's not relevant Barry," Cynthia states, shaking her head at her brother. Barry stops smiling and nods at Cynthia and Joe.

Before the two of them expose the secret, Cynthia pulls Barry away from Joe saying, "Don't you have evidence to process?" They both walk up the stairs towards Barry's lab.

"Maybe that lighting strike killed your common-sense brain cells, or maybe it's all the superheroing," Cynthia states once they are in the lab.

"So, Cisco told you?" Barry questions with a confused look on his face.

"Well, after Joe called me and I said you weren't with me, I called Cisco to see if you were at STAR Labs. However, by the time I called, you had already left," Cynthia explains.

"Then there have been news reports about a red streak at a fire this morning," she finishes.

"This is what we all talked about at STAR Labs. I don't understand why everyone is so upset?" Barry questions.

"Hey, I am just concerned about you. These powers are new, which means we don't know what kind of effects they could be having on you or others," Cynthia points out.

"Yeah, ok," Barry accepts her answer with a sigh.

Looking at the clock on the wall Cynthia realizes what time it is, "Hey you want to go get some lunch?"

"No, I have to process this evidence," Barry declines.

"Well, don't starve yourself," Cynthia jokes and leaves Barry to his work.

As Cynthia looks for a place to eat she considers asking Cisco if he wants to join her. Thinking about it, she decides not to because she remembers him saying he had just started some new project. Cynthia didn't always understand him when he started talking in tech lingo. However, she always at least tried and she was always supportive when he was excited about something. Deciding not to get Big Belly Burger, Cynthia went to a Mexican restaurant instead. When she got back to her apartment to put her leftovers in the fridge her cell phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID it was Joe again.

"The last time I saw Barry he was in his lab," Cynthia sighs, wishing her brother would get his act together a little more.

"That's not why I am calling, Cynthia," Joe remarks acerbically. Cynthia waits for Joe to continue. "Simon Stagg's benefit was just attacked by armed gunmen," Joe informs her.

A panic rises in Cynthia as she realizes, "Barry and Iris were going to that." Cynthia immediately hangs up and heads back to her car. The drive was short, but only because she broke the speed limit and passed a lot of people illegally. When she gets to the scene she shows her ID and they let her through. Cynthia sees Barry, Iris, Joe, and Eddie all gathered together and she runs over. "Is everyone ok?" She frantically asks.

"Yeah Barry just fainted," Iris explains. Cynthia hides her suspicious look by hugging her brother.

"Well thank God," Cynthia states with a sigh.

"Do you need a paramedic to look you over, Allen?" Eddie asks.

"No, it doesn't look like that's needed. I'll watch him," Cynthia interjects quickly. She pulls Barry away before he can get another stern talk from Joe. After getting Barry into her car, they head off.

"Where are we going?" Barry wonders.

"To STAR Labs," Cynthia answers.

"What? Why? I'm fine!" Barry states, wounded that his own sister doesn't believe him.

"Because you need to be checked out if you're having these attacks," she tells him with a stern look as they walk into the cortex. Fortunately Cisco, Caitlin, and Wells are all there.

"What's wrong?" Wells asks, clearly sensing the tension.

"Apparently after using his powers Barry has been experiencing some side effects like dizzy spells," Cynthia explains with a sly grin. The three scientists get up and Caitlin immediately starts examining Barry.

"You lied to us! How could you not tell us you were experiencing dizzy spells? We're your doctors. God knows what's going on inside your body. Your cells are in a constant state of flux. You could be experiencing cardiopulmonary failure or a transient ischemic attack!" Caitlin yells. Cynthia flinches a little at Caitlin's anger as she stands next to Cisco on the other side of the hospital bed Barry is sitting on. Barry looks confused and turns to Dr. Wells for clarification.

"Mini stroke. Probably not," Wells clears up the confusion.

"You, of all people, should know that in science we share. We don't keep secrets," Caitlin says a little calmer, but still clearly angry. She strides out of the room clearly fuming. Barry slumps a little, showing how upset he is that he upset Caitlin.

"Wow, I haven't seen anyone make her that angry since Ronnie," Cisco states. He hands Cynthia the tablet he was holding and leaves the room after Caitlin.

Barry straightens up and asks Wells, "Ronnie was Caitlin's fiancé?" Cynthia had heard about Ronnie from Cisco before. Caitlin didn't like to talk about him, probably because it brought up bad memories of his death. Cisco had talked fondly of him, giving Cynthia the impression that they were good friends before Ronnie's death.

"Yes, he is missed," Wells answers Barry. Barry had a weird mixture of emotions on his face that Cynthia could only slightly make out. One she did see was a little bit of jealousy. She had seen that emotion before whenever Barry saw Iris with another guy. "Let's go see why this keeps happening," Wells declares. After Cisco and Caitlin came back, the whole group went into another room that had a giant treadmill in it. Cisco gets super excited as Barry, who is in sweats walks up to the treadmill.

"We're all set over here," Wells says from the computers that were on the other side of the window where you could watch the person on the treadmill.

"A little padding. Just in case," Cisco assures Barry referring to the boxes behind the treadmill, as he leaves and comes to sit at the computers with Wells, Caitlin and Cynthia.

"You're sure about this, Cisco?" Barry questions.

"Most home treadmills don't even come close to your speed. This one has been Cisco'ed," Cisco says into the com system that was there so you didn't have to shout. "Trust me, it can handle your speed," Cisco states.

"Okay," Barry sighs and starts running. He starts at human speed and then shifts to inhuman speeds.

"Heart rate, blood pressure, nerve conduction all normal," Caitlin states as she stares at the screen with all the readings.

"For Barry," Cynthia adds.

Caitlin nods and continues, "Brainwave function within standard limits."

Cisco laughs and remarks, "I told you the treadmill could take it." Cynthia puts her hand on Cisco's and squeezes it, trying to convey how proud of she is of him; they share a smile.

"Caitlin., look at the glucose levels," Wells points out. Cynthia assumes that that is the one area of the screen that is very low.

"Oh, my God. Of course," Caitlin realizes.

"Right?" Wells agrees.

"It was so obvious. Glucose levels," Caitlin chides herself.

"Barry! We think we know why you keep…," Wells starts. Barry suddenly falls off the treadmill and passes out, slamming into the boxes Cisco had set up. "… passing out," he finishes. Caitlin quickly hooks an I.V. to Barry after they get him back on the hospital bed. It is some time, and a lot of bags later that Barry wakes up.

Barry groans, "I passed out again?"

"Total metabolic failure brought on by acute hypoglycemia," Caitlin explains. "I'm not eating enough so an I.V. bag and I'm good to go?" Barry reasons, still looking at Caitlin. Cisco chuckles and turns Barry to look at all the bags.

"Try 40," Cynthia informs Barry.

"Guess you were thirsty," Wells comments taking a drink from his own water bottle.

"We're gonna need to fashion you a new diet based on your metabolic changes. I've done a few calculations," Cisco starts.

"He used tacos," Cynthia interrupts holding back a giggle at her Cisco's enthusiasm.

"What about cheese and guac? That is like a whole other set of equations," Cisco turns to go back to his work.

Cynthia is about to laugh when a voice makes her stop, "For Mexican, I recommend Tito's. On Bruckner Avenue? Best burrito in the city." Joe has arrived.

"Detective West. What brings you to STAR Labs?" Wells greets casually.

Staring straight at Barry Joe states, "When I couldn't find you at your lab, I started doing a little research. Turns out there have been reports of a red streak around the city, stopping muggers, rescuing people from burning buildings…"

Turning to Barry, Wells questions, "You didn't tell him we were working together?" Everyone is paying attention to the tension in the room. Cynthia is standing next to Cisco with her hand and arm around his.

"Joe, I can explain," Barry tries.

"You already have a job in law enforcement, Barry. Both of you do. I suggest you get back to them," Joe commands.

"Mm-hmm," Caitlin agrees. Joe looks over at her. "Don't look at me. I'm on your side," Caitlin justifies. Barry looks more upset at Caitlin's comment then what Joe has said.

"Detective, we all want what's best for Barry," Wells tries to defend their actions.

"If you wanted what was best for Barry, you'd try to talk him out of this lunacy instead of encouraging him to go out there risking his life," Joe argues.

"You saw a man control the weather. What are the police gonna do against someone like that? Since the accelerator explosion, we suspect there may be more like him," Barry finally speaks.

"And you're gonna do what? Catch them? Are you insane? You think because you can run real fast that you're invincible? You're not! You're just a kid. My kid," Joe protests.

"I'm not your kid, Joe. And you're not my father," Barry yells. "Our father's sitting in Iron Heights. Wrongfully convicted. You were wrong about him. And you're wrong about this," Barry debates a little calmer, gesturing to Cynthia when he talks about their father. "Now, I may not be able to help him, but if I can save someone from a burning building or stop some armed thieves, I'm gonna do it. And you can't stop me, so don't even try," Barry declares.

"You think you're so smart. All of you," he glares at them, "But you don't know what you don't know. And I hope that you're clever enough to figure it out before somebody gets killed," Joe concludes. Joe glances at Cynthia. She doesn't want to get yelled at more so she just looks at the ground and leans into Cisco. Joe storms away without saying anything else. Even though Joe is gone the tension in the room is still thick. Barry sits on the edge of the hospital bed seeming to be in deep thought. After a minute, Cisco, Caitlin, and Wells go back to working on other things.

Cynthia feeling a little out of place walks over to Barry, "I was going to go back to the station to do more work, do you want to come with me?" Barry nods and stands up. Cynthia gives Cisco a quick kiss on the cheek and she and Barry leave.

The next day was mostly quiet until later in the day when Cynthia went to check on her brother. Apparently Joe had left his lab looking pissed, and Iris had walked into his lab looking angry: The officers sometimes gossip.

"Hey Barry," Cynthia announces herself as she enters the lab. There are empty boxes of donuts on one table and papers everywhere.

"Hey Cindy," Barry replies without looking up.

"You okay?" Cynthia questions.

"Yeah, why?" Barry asks, finally looking up.

Cynthia goes and stands next to him, "I've been worried about you since last night and there are rumors of another fight with Joe."

"Yeah and Iris is angry at me now too," Barry admits. Cynthia doesn't know what to do so she pats Barry's shoulder. "I've got to get this to the captain," Barry tells her as he holds up a report.

"I'll walk with you," Cynthia says as she turns towards the door. They walk downstairs to find out that chaos has erupted. People are running around everywhere. Barry and Cynthia look at each other in confusion before spotting the captain.

"Captain, what's going on?" Barry inquires as he passes by.

"Not now, Barry. An armed gunman is shooting up Stagg industries," the captain informs them.

"Joe's there," Barry mutters. He looks at Cynthia who nods and whispers, "Go." Barry runs up the stairs back to his lab and in the next second Cynthia barely sees the streak go by her and out of the station.

After thinking for a moment, Cynthia makes a decision and leaves the station as well. She parks well away from the action and tries to be as quiet as possible while still going fast as possible as she looks for her brother and Joe. When she finally gets into the section of the warehouse where Barry is, Cynthia realizes that he's in trouble: He's surrounded by a bunch of copies of the same guy and is being beaten. Cynthia just reacts and reaches out her hand. She senses that one of the guys is slightly different from the others and concentrates on that one. All the men stop beating Barry up for a second, which is enough time for Barry to speed away and avoid further attack. Cynthia knows she needs to get out of there and to STAR Labs as soon as possible. She narrowly avoids the cops and Joe as she leaves. She gets to STAR Labs just as Caitlin is finishing looking over Barry.

''Are you ok?" Cynthia asks, already knowing the answer.

Barry winces and says, "I got my ass handed to me."

"You got blood on my suit," Cisco remarks in a sort of condescending way.

"I think some of it is his," Barry responds back as he gets up.

"Another not so friendly metahuman?" Cynthia states rhetorically.

"Danton Black. He's a bio-geneticist specializing in therapeutic cloning. Growing new organs to replace failing ones," Wells explains, bringing up a picture of Danton on one of the big screens in the room.

"Apparently, Stagg stole his research and fired him," Caitlin reads from the screen where information from many sources is up next to Danton's picture.

"I saw Black create duplicates of himself from his own body," Barry reveals.

"That's ironic," Cynthia comments in a sort of mumble.

"Yeah, Black specialized in cloning and now he can make Xeroxes of himself," Cisco picks up Cynthia's line of thinking.

"If he was experimenting on himself when the particle accelerator exploded...," Wells starts.

"Meet Captain Clone," Cisco finishes, smiling like crazy. Cynthia smiles and chuckles at her boyfriend's quirkiness. With everyone in the room looking at him, he frowns and retorts huffily, "Don't worry, I'll come up with a cooler name than that."

Barry starts to leave, and his sister catches him, asking, "Where are you going, Barry?"

"Joe was right," he sighs. "I'm in way over my head. Yeah, I'm fast, but I am no warrior. Man, I could barely fight one meta-human, let alone six," Barry explains dejectedly. Cynthia thinks that is ridiculous and wonders whether she should reveal her powers. Maybe it'll make him feel better about his?

Cynthia goes to do just that when Wells speaks, "Barry, I understand, today was a setback, but any grand enterprise has them. And we can never learn to fly without crashing a few times."

Barry shakes his head, "This wasn't a grand enterprise, Dr. Wells. This was a mistake." Barry slowly walks out of the room with his head hanging down. Cynthia heaves a big sigh and turns to Dr. Wells.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She inquires.

"Can you change Barry's mind?" Wells wonders.

"Sorry, no. I think the only one who can help Barry change his mind is Joe," Cynthia honestly replies.

"Actually, Cynthia, I could use your help," Cisco states. Cynthia smiles bright and goes over to help her boyfriend. Sometimes she thinks that Cisco makes up jobs to keep her there. It makes her feel some butterflies in her stomach that Cisco wants her around that much. She had dated guys before that had wanted her far away from their work, their other friends and interests, and was never quite comfortable with them.

Wells says he needs to run an errand and leaves for a while. They are still working when he comes back. Then, Caitlin makes something incredible happen. As if they are in some sort of low budget sci-fi movie with bad CGI, this figure starts to grow. Cynthia hides behind Cisco as the figure forms into Black. Caitlin, being the first one to come out of her shock, calls Barry.

"I know, but you need to get to STAR Labs right now," Caitlin insists and hangs up. By the time she hung up the phone they had gotten over their shock. Black just stands there and they all realize that it's not really him: The clone is harmless. Barry races in at lightning speed, messing everything up.

"Barry, it's okay," Caitlin assures him.

"It is not okay. Black is here, and he's just standing there," Barry starts but quickly realizes what the others had already figured out.

"That's not him, is it?" Barry concludes a little shamefacedly.

"It's one of his replicants," Wells supplies.

"How did you get it?" Barry asks in confusion.

"I grew him," Caitlin answers proudly. Barry looks at Caitlin with a mix of shock and pride. She moves to one of the big screens that displays her work and explains, "I isolated a sample of Black's blood from your suit to see if I could trigger the in vitro cultivation process and learn how Black multiplies. So, I exposed the target cells to a protein gel, and they began replicating into that." Barry pokes at the clone as well as waves his hand in front of it: It shows no reaction.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" Barry questions.

"They did a brain scan," Cynthia starts.

"Involuntary motor functions are active, little else," Cisco finishes. Cynthia has a fleeting thought that it should feel weird that she and Cisco are finishing each other's sentences but she focuses on the situation at hand.

"We think it's acting as a receiver," Wells informs him.

"The clones are an empty shell without Black. Shut down the real Black, and you might shut them all down," Caitlin states.

"But how do we know which one's the real Danton Black?" Barry brings up a valid point.

"That occurred to me, given your own passing out," Caitlin began.

"Black has limits, just like you," Cynthia contributes.

"Controlling all of those clones must require a tremendous amount of physical strength. So, look for the one showing signs of weakness or fatigue: He's the prime," Caitlin advises.

"Just a theory, but one you might want to put to the test, Mr. Allen," Wells indicates.

"Plus, I whipped up these high- calorie protein bars for you to keep your metabolism up," Cisco says as he goes over and puts one in Barry's shirt pocket. Suddenly the clone starts to move, causing Cynthia to back away from it. Barry moves in front of Caitlin to protect her when she cries out. Gunshots ring out and the clone drops to the floor dead. Everyone glances up to see Joe with his gun still pointed at the clone.

"Any more of them?" he asks.

"Nope," Cynthia confirms.

"Why did it start moving?" Barry wonders, still right next to Caitlin.

"The prime. My guess is, the prime is on the move. This one heard the summons to battle," Wells reasons.

"And I know where he was summoned to. Stagg Industries," Joe indicates.

"You should call it in," Barry suggests.

"Police can't fight this. What Black's become, like Mardon, is beyond me. Maybe way beyond them, too. The only person it's not beyond is you. You gotta do this," Joe encourages.

"I get it," Barry mutters with a sigh.

"So, for once in your life, do what I tell you to do: Go stop him," Joe commands with a small grin.

Barry nods his head, looks at Caitlin who gives him a nod, speeds into his suit, that he had left there, and then speeds away. Everyone hurries to the desk so they can all know what's happening through the com system. He arrived back at Stagg Industries in record time, and immediately went to Stagg's office. Unfortunately, Black was already there, but Barry was able to save him from being shot.

"Stay here," Barry tells Stagg and zooms away to get Black. Black must have multiplied because Barry didn't immediately attack him. "I know Stagg stole your research, but that doesn't give you the right to murder," Barry tries to talk to Black. In what Cynthia assumes is a process of elimination for Barry, he starts randomly attacking clones as Barry and Black talk.

"You think this is about my job? This is about Elizabeth! She was my wife. She had a degenerative coronary disease and had been on the transplant list for years, but time was running out. So, if I couldn't get her a new heart…" Black starts to explain.

"You were gonna grow her one," Barry follows, knowing Black's research. There are gunshots but the suit tells everyone that Barry is okay.

"I was so close. Until Stagg stole my research so he could reap the glory. And I got to bury my best friend. Now I'm alone," Black finishes sadly. There are more sounds fighting, and it doesn't sound like Barry is winning.

Caitlin and Cynthia share a look and Caitlin reminds Barry, "Remember, Barry. Find the prime."

"There's too many of them to fight," Barry complains.

"Barry, you need to isolate the prime," Wells reaffirms.

"I can't. It's impossible," Barry sounds defeated.

Cynthia is about to argue with him when Joe beats her to it, "Nothing's impossible, Barry. You taught me that. You can do this." Cynthia inwardly smiles and knows that that is exactly what Barry needs to hear right now. Then they hear Barry fighting what sounds like thousands of clones before a banging sound interrupts everything. There is silence and everyone starts to panic.

"Barry! Barry, are you all right?!" Caitlin yells into the mic, clearly concerned.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. It's done," Barry finally speaks. They all sigh with relief, but apparently they began celebrating to soon because they hear Black get up and burst out a window. Barry catches him because they hear him say, "Hang on!"

"No!" Black insists.

"Don't," Barry grunts as he tries to pull Black up. There is silence again and then Barry says, "Black's dead."

They're all listening to the news on one of the screens talk about what happened, "Central City police officials are now confirming former employee Danton Black…"

"I tried to save him," Barry proclaims.

"Doesn't sound like he wanted to be saved. Some people, when they break, they can't be put together again," Wells professes.

"Some people heal even stronger," Barry says as he turns to everyone.

"I hope so," Wells replies.

"Well, at least Multiplex won't be able to hurt anyone else. Told you I'd come up with a cool name," Cisco remarks.

Cynthia smiles and states, "It's perfect." She grabs Cisco's hand and lays her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I may be the one in the suit doing all the running, but when I'm out there helping people, making a difference, you're all out there with me," Barry begins. "Finally realized something, we were all struck by that lightning," Barry declares. If only he knew how true that was. With the crisis averted, there's no need to tell everyone about her powers. However, Cynthia prays that when she does reveal them, it won't be the worst thing she's ever done.

Author's Note: This chapter was really hard for me so I would really appreciate if you would comment on it. Thanks to my beta tj6james6. I don't own The Flash or any characters associated with DC comics.


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